Gardeners start new season of feeding the hungry

Photo provided
DeKalb County Master Gardeners will hold an orientation April 13 for anyone interested in learning more about gardening or about the group's mission to reduce hunger in DeKalb County. From left, Heath Johnson, Michele Roberts, Tom and Jon Riley, Michelle Bergeson, Terry West and Denny White.

DeKALB – DeKalb County Community Gardens will begin its second growing season with a public garden-build orientation at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 13, in the Mayor’s Community Garden, at the corner of South Fifth and Franklin streets in DeKalb, behind city hall.

DCCG will invite new elected officials to attend and share in the orientation. The event will provide information about how to build a raised-bed garden and about plans for this particular garden, which will feature an edible landscape, a children’s garden area, a pizza garden, a natural arbor, herb garden and more. Members of the DeKalb Area Garden Club and University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners will answer questions and share information about building gardens and seed starting.

In its first year, DeKalb County Community Gardens installed and coordinated the management of community gardens at 16 sites. More than 1.5 tons of food was raised by volunteers for area food pantries and community meal locations. DCCG has expanded to nearly 10 acres of growing space at more than 35 sites.

“We are looking forward to another great growing season,” executive director Dan Kenney said. “We hope with all of the community working together we can have a significant impact toward closing the food gap in DeKalb County.”

DCCG is dedicated to providing access to wholesome fresh vegetables to those who are hungry or food insecure within the county.

“DCCG believes that with the good will of so many in the county, and with the amount of land available in the county, that there is no reason people living in DeKalb County should go hungry during the growing season,” Kenney said. “We are hopeful that with coordinated effort we can provide everyone with basic food security.”

DCCG has also played a organizing role in the creation of the first Local Food Security Council in DeKalb County. The council will be made up of more than 30 volunteers from around DeKalb County who are engaged in providing food to those in need in one way or another or are concerned about issues of nutrition and access to healthier food choices.